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Community Meeting on Proposed Burger King at Gateway Center

January 15, 2013

Dear Neighbor,

I am writing to invite you to attend a community meeting to discuss and review a proposal to construct a Burger King drive-thru restaurant at 7513 N. Clark(in the Gateway Shopping Center). The meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 23rd, 7:00 p.m., at the Pottawattomie Park Fieldhouse, 7340 N Rogers (west of Clark).

Representatives of Burger King, including the franchisee,Adam Velarde, who owns 28 Burger King restaurants throughout the Chicagoland area, will present a proposal to build a Burger King restaurant with a drive thru.

The construction of the Burger King would take place on the vacant “out-lot” that exists along Clark Street in the Gateway Center, just north of the building that houses the Dominick’s (see photo on left, courtesy of DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard). When the shopping center was constructed fourteen years ago, the out-lot was intended to be developed at a later date with a compatible commercial use.

The current lot is 7,720 square feet in size and the proposed the building would be 2,598 square feet with 19 parking spaces located east of the restaurant. The drive-thru would allow for the “stacking” of eight cars and would be accessible by the existing entrances to the shopping center. No additional automobile entrances would be constructed. Patrons on foot would be able to enter the restaurant through an entrance on Clark Street.

The traffic engineering firm of Gewalt Hamilton Associates analyzed the plan and determined that the Gateway Center has the requisite capacity to serve the restaurant and the associated traffic would not impact Clark Street adversely.

The restaurant and drive through will be open every day from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight.

The franchisee estimated the restaurant would create approximately 40 jobs. If approved, the restaurant would be completed within eight months of receiving the requisite permits from the City of Chicago.

This proposal requires an amendment to the planned development that underlies the Gateway Center Shopping Center, to allow for a drive thru facility. The amendment requires approval of the Chicago Plan Commission and the Chicago City Council.

The same planned development already allows for a drive-thru facility for the Bank of America facility across the street from the proposed restaurant.

For copies of the site plans, elevations and renderings, click on the attachments below:

You also may view a rendering of the proposed restaurant by clicking here or scrolling to the bottom of this email.

I urge you to attend the meeting to learn more about the proposal and express your views. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to share your comments with me by replying to this email. Similarly, if you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this email or call my staff assistant, Michael Land, at 773-338-5796.